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" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.michigandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hua.GMW_.vsOSU_.2023.01.28.267.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.michigandaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hua.GMW_.vsOSU_.2023.01.28.267.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" /> At this point, it seems as if there’s nothing that Sierra Brooks can’t do.
Besides taking a day off.
As a senior captain on the Michigan women’s gymnastics team, Brooks has garnered a multitude of awards and cemented her role in the starting lineup since her first year on the team. As a freshman, Brooks won Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. As a sophomore, she was instrumental in helping her team win a National Championship, the first in Michigan’s history. As a junior, she was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. Now in her senior year, she received that accolade for the second year in a row and was listed as one of six finalists for the AAI award — the most prestigious award in collegiate gymnastics given to the best senior gymnast in the country.
These acknowledgments continue to accumulate – one article wouldn’t be enough to encapsulate them all – but Brooks is not new to the hard work it takes to achieve success.
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Described by her parents, David and Shannon Brooks, as having a motor that just doesn’t quit, Sierra has always fully dedicated herself to everything she does. They have witnessed Sierra’s unstoppable drive since her birth.
“Coming out of the womb she’s been incredibly independent and very driven,” Shannon told The Daily. “(David) used to say … that she doesn’t get cheated. She wakes up and she makes the most of her days. She’s always been a busy body, always wanted to do very, very well with things and she’s willing to put in the work. We saw that as a child, but to this day, she does not get cheated. She tries to maximize everything.”
Sierra joined a competitive gym when she was six-years-old, quickly rising through the ranks and reaching level 10 — the highest level for youth gymnastics — in the sixth grade. Colleges began taking note, sending interest letters in the mail. But this didn’t surprise Sierra. This was the expectation.
“Other kids who were closer to my age or just a little bit older were already committed to schools,” Sierra told The Daily. “It was just very much the culture of gymnastics at the time. It was like ‘Okay, once you hit level 10, and then you make (Junior Olympic) Nationals, you’re probably going to start getting recruited.’ ”
Under the leadership of coach Nick Becker at Aspire Gymnastics Academy — a competitive gym in Illinois — Sierra competed at the Junior Olympic National Championships from 2016 to 2019, placing in the top three in the all-around each year and winning vault, beam, floor and all-around titles in 2019.
Sierra finished her youth career as a five-time Illinois state champion and a 2019 Nastia Liukin Cup qualifier — a tournament held for the top Junior Olympic gymnasts. As Sierra’s Junior Olympic career came to a close, she had interest from multiple colleges. But once she set her eye on Michigan, she was determined to be a Wolverine.
And in 2019, everything fell into place.
“I had been taking classes over the summer in high school just because I really liked school,” Sierra said. “(Michigan assistant coach) Scott (Sherman) reached out to me, and they had an opening on the team and I felt that I was ready … I had been competing at level 10 for like six years and felt like I had done everything that I wanted to accomplish. I was willing to graduate early and I think the transition honestly was very smooth. I credit a lot of that to the relationships I already had with the girls on the team.”
Sierra graduated with honors from Oswego East High School in 2019 after just three years, enrolling at Michigan that spring as a student in the Ross School of Business. With the support of senior Gabby Wilson and graduate students Abby Heiskell and Natalie Wojcik, all of whom she knew before coming to Michigan, the transition from the individualistic nature of youth gymnastics to the team environment of college was seamless.
Even when the pandemic hit in 2020, causing the NCAA championships to be canceled and ending Sierra’s team-MVP freshman season prematurely, she refused to slow down.
While many students took the time in quarantine to rest, Sierra did the exact opposite. She took online courses in psychology, accounting, video editing and marketing — on top of starting a blog and creating videos of her workout routine. By May, she had begun working as a Content & Brand Marketing Intern for Power Move Marketing. If she couldn’t add to her gymnastics resume, she was going to add to her academic one.
“Too much free time for Sierra is not good,” David said. “She tries to fill it with productive things … taking courses, working out. That’s just who she is.”
As a sophomore, she made up for lost gymnastics time. Notching 13 event titles and 29 routines of 9.900 or better – including one in all four events at the National Championships – Sierra set new career bests on beam, bars, and the all-around at nationals. She earned the highest all-around score in Michigan history at the NCAA Championships and led the Wolverines to their first national title. Sierra was voted co-MVP for the team and finished the regular season ranked fifth nationally on the vault and 15th in the all-around.
Throughout Sierra’s junior year, she continued to demonstrate her talent both academically and athletically. Off the mat, she was voted President of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee — an organization that represents all 29 varsity sports and over 900 athletes at Michigan. Throughout the year, she worked as a USA Diverse Future Leaders Fellowship Member for L’Oréal and started a website and Instagram account to showcase her photo editing skills. That summer, she served as a Deals Transformation Associate for PWC – one of the most prestigious public accounting firms in the world.
In the gym, Sierra continued to impress. She was voted co-MVP for the second year in a row, chosen as a team captain, won the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year and became the conference vault champion. Not to mention 15 event titles and 29 scores of 9.900 or higher.
Now in her senior season, Sierra is showing the same consistency and prowess that she has shown since her freshman year.
“Sierra is just an unbelievable rockstar,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said after the team’s win against No. 1 Oklahoma on March 7. “She’s just an amazingly talented athlete and an amazing young woman.”
As one of the captains of a team with national title hopes, Sierra is at the forefront of a talented group of gymnasts. She ranks fifth nationally on the vault, eighth in the all-around, 14th on the uneven bars and 19th on the beam. On top of taking home Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors for the second consecutive year, Sierra was named a finalist for the AAI award and became just the 13th Wolverine gymnast to earn all-conference selections four years in a row.
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Sierra’s relentless hard work has led to her resounding success, but she also credits her family for their endless support and motivation.
“My family is incredible,” Sierra said. “I’ve always been (my little brother Brandon’s) biggest fan and I’ve loved being a role model for him. I adore him and he adores me…And then my parents are there to pick up the phone whenever possible. I call my mom probably 5-7 times a week just to talk through things. … And (my dad) is someone who just listens and hears me out when I want to get something off my chest. They have been very pivotal to my success”
Brandon, David and Shannon will be supporting Sierra as she returns next season for her fifth year to pursue a master’s in business analytics. Sporting an undergraduate degree, an acceptance into a top business program and countless gymnastic accolades, her parents could not emphasize their pride in their daughter enough.
“We knew she would be successful,” Shannon said. “We just didn’t know what it would look like. She deserves it. No one is going to outwork her and she is incredibly humble about it. She internalizes that and doesn’t show it. I don’t even have the words – I’m so incredibly proud of her.”
Sierra Brooks can do it all, and she makes it look effortless. Heading into regionals this Friday, Sierra’s confidence, leadership and unwavering will to succeed might just help the Wolverines win it all once again.
But even the triumph of a national championship might not be enough to make her take a day off.